Looking for something to read this summer?
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Divergent (2012) by Veronica Roth.
"In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences" (Goodreads.com).
Splendors and Glooms (2013) by Laura Schlitz.
Winner of a Newbery Honor book in 2013. Lizzie Rose, Parsefall and Clara are in the clutches of a wicked puppeteer and a powerful witch in this deliciously dark and complex tale set in Dickensian England, where adventure and suspense are interwoven into nuanced explorations of good versus evil (ALA, 2013). 
Bomb : the race to build and steal the dangerous weapon (2012) by Steve Sheinkin. (nonfiction)
Watch this book trailer!
"In December of 1938, a chemist in a German laboratory made a shocking discovery: When placed next to radioactive material, a Uranium atom split in two. That simple discovery launched a scientific race that spanned 3 continents. In Great Britain and the United States, Soviet spies worked their way into the scientific community; in Norway, a commando force slipped behind enemy lines to attack German heavy-water manufacturing; and deep in the desert, one brilliant group of scientists was hidden away at a remote site at Los Alamos. This is the story of the plotting, the risk-taking, the deceit, and genius that created the world's most formidable weapon. This is the story of the atomic bomb" (Goodreads.com)
Confessions of a Murder Suspect (2012) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Watch this book trailer on Youtube!
Three Times Lucky (2012) by Sheila Turnage.(This author lives in N.C.!)
Click here for a summary by Goodreads.com. Sheila Turnage "Sheila Turnage grew up on a farm in Eastern North Carolina. She lives on a North Carolina farm with her family, which includes 'a smart dog, an ill-tempered cat, a dozen chickens and a flock of guineas'. 'Three Times Lucky' is her first novel for middle-grade readers" (ALA, 2013).
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1995) by Douglas Adams. Watch the Youtube book trailer!
The One and Only Ivan (2012) by Katherine Applegate.
This book has been awarded the 2013 John Newbery Medal, one of the most prestigious awards in children’s lit. “Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all. Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line" (Goodreads, 2013) (Click here for more.)
The Maze Runner (2009) by James Dashner.
This is one of my favorite dystopian novels! Thomas emerges from a dark and mysterious lift to find himself among a horde of boys who call themselves Gladers. He and the boys have no idea how they arrived. In fact, they don’t have many, if any, memories of their past. Every 30 days a new boy arrives. The Glade where they live is surrounded by a giant maze made of towering stone walls. Each night, a giant gate in the maze closes. If the boys can figure a way out of the maze, they might find a way to get back home. When a girl steps out of the lift, Thomas realizes that she might be their ticket out. 
Gone (2008) by Michael Grant
Click here for a complete summary. The whole series is great.
The Greatest. Muhammad Ali (2001) by Walter Dean Myers (biography)
"The life and times of Muhammad Ali, who transformed boxing and became one of the world's most engaging and charismatic athletes, as told by renowned Newbery Honor author Walter Dean Myers. It is the perfect choice for both young adult sports fans and fans of the author himself" ("Scholastic. book wizard," 2013).
Watership Down (1975) by Richard Adams.
If you haven't read this book. . . don't wait any longer!Click here for summary.
Anya's Ghost (2011) Vera Brosgol.
Check out this graphic novel! "Anya could really use a friend. But her new BFF isn't kidding about the "Forever" part... Of all the things Anya expected to find at the bottom of an old well, a new friend was not one of them. Especially not a new friend who’s been dead for a century. Falling down a well is bad enough, but Anya's normal life might actually be worse. She's embarrassed by her family, self-conscious about her body, and she's pretty much given up on fitting in at school. A new friend—even a ghost—is just what she needs. Or so she thinks. Spooky, sardonic, and secretly sincere, Anya's Ghostis a wonderfully entertaining debut from author/artist Vera Brosgol" (Goodreads, 2013).
Pipe Dreams. A Surfer's Journey (1994)
by Kelly Slater with Jason Borte (biography)
By 1994 Kelly Slater had won six world championship titles. As of this year, he's won 11! Kelly tells the story of his life and how he became a world-champion surfer.Check out this video of the 11x champ!
Deadly (2011) by Chibbaro
"Paced like a medical thriller, “Deadly” is the rare Y.A. novel in which a girl’s intellectual interests trump adolescent romance. A 16-year-old Jewish tenement dweller in 1906 New York pines away days at a finishing school on scholarship and nights helping midwife young mothers. When she quits school to assist the Department of Health and Sanitation in its pursuit of 'Typhoid Mary,' she is awakened to nascent opportunities for women in science" (Paul, 2011).
Watch this YouTube summary!
I Am Number Four (2010) by Pittacus Lore
Check out this trailer!
Left for Dead. A Young Man's Search Justic for the USS Indianapolis (2002) by Pete Nelson (nonfiction)"Just after midnight on July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. The ship sank in 14 minutes. More than 1,000 men were thrown into shark-infested waters. Those who survived the fiery sinking—some injured, many without life jackets—struggled to stay afloat in shark-infested waters as they waited for rescue. But the United States Navy did not even know they were missing. The Navy needed a scapegoat for this disaster. So it court-martialed the captain for “hazarding” his ship. The survivors of theIndianapolis knew that their captain was not to blame. For 50 years they worked to clear his name, even after his untimely death. But the navy would not budge—until an 11-year-old boy named Hunter Scott entered the picture. His history fair project on the Indianapolis soon became a crusade to restore the captain’s good name and the honor of the men who served under him" (Googlebooks, 2002).
Ender's Game (1994) by Orson Scott Card (science fiction)Watch the trailer. Read the book first!
The Other Side of Truth (2002) by Beverly Naidoo"After the murder of their mother, twelve-year-old Sade and her younger brother are smuggled out of Nigeria by their journalist father to escape the corrupt military government and growing violence. They are sent to their uncle in London, but when they arrive, he is missing and they are abandoned, passed between foster homes. Their father escapes to England to find them. . ." (Goodreads, 2013).
FOR FURTHER READING CHECK OUT THIS BOOK LIST LINKS
- For the mature reader (8th grade to high school),
- For a list of the Best Middle School books, according to Goodreads.com: Goodreads
References
ALA. (2013). Recommended Reading. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet23
Book jacket images retrieved from goodreads.com
Delafield, Cathy. "Confessions of a Murder Suspect Book Trailer). Youtube. Web. Nov. 29, 2012.
Goodreads. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com
Google Books. (2002, May 14). Left for dead (google ebook). Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=m5oBeXgSMRQC&dq=left for dead&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Paul, P. (2011, march 11). New york times children's bookshelf. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=new york times book review deadly&meta=
Scholastic. book wizard. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/greatest-muhammad-ali
YALSA. (2013). Top Ten Nominations. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/yalsa/sites/ala.org.yalsa/files/content/teenreading/teenstopten/2013%20TTT%20Nominations.pdf
YouTube.com
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